I think that the Democratic candidates should avoid any debate with Fox as a sponsor, as the network disparages Democrats several times a day. I think Edwards may influence other candidates, and Fox may be in a position of being shut out of the debates as a sponsor.

We have heard several people indicate that it feels too early to be thinking about this process. But it isn’t. It is time now to start doing your research and getting to know the candidates.

We will do our utmost to inform you when a Presidential candidate is visiting Nashville.

At this time the only one that we are aware of is John Edwards this coming Monday, April 16 at The Ryman Auditorium. He will hold a rally at 4PM with performances by Rodney Crowell and Del McCoury. The event is free and open to the public.

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"Behind every great fortune lies a great crime."Honore de Balzac

"Democrats work to help people who need help. That other party, they work for people who don't need help. That's all there is to it."~Harry S. Truman

NEW YORK While much appears to be going the Democrats' way in public opinion, it is not really translating in presidential election heats -- and now Mayor Mike Blomberg might enter the race as an independent, which might hurt the Dems, as well.

A new Gallup poll finds the three leading Democratic contenders barely edging the top Republicans. The only exception is that former Gov. Mitt Romney fares very poorly. At the same time, former Sen. John Edwards appears to be soaring.

The June 11-14 polls finds Sen. Hillary Clinton besting Sen. John McCain 48% to 46%, Sen. Barack Obama topping him 49% to 46% and Edwards, surprisingly, with the biggest edge, 50% to 44%. The numbers for a race against former Mayor Rudy Giuliani are almost the same.

Romney, however, trails each of the three Democrats by wide margins: losing to Clinton by 13%, to Obama by 21% and to Edwards by a whopping 29%.

McCain's strength -- despite several apparent setbacks -- has held very steady this year in these heats, while Giuliani has faded.

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"Behind every great fortune lies a great crime."Honore de Balzac

"Democrats work to help people who need help. That other party, they work for people who don't need help. That's all there is to it."~Harry S. Truman

Speaking at the NAACP sponsored candidates forum in Detroit today, presidential candidate Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) called for the impeachment of Vice President Dick Cheney.

In response to a question about how candidates would promote equal opportunity and integration among America's school Kucinich took a jab at the US Supreme Court, saying that they're working from an outdated constitution that is missing the 13th, 14th and 15th amendments, which abolished slavery, defined citizenship rights for former slaves, and granted suffrage to non-White citizens, respectively.

"But there is a 13th, 14th, and 15th amendment," said Kucinich to growing applause. "And we have to have equality of opportunity, and we have to make sure there's equal protection of the law, and we have to make sure that's enshrined in the way that we conduct our policy."

Kucinich said that as president he would appoint judges who believed in the Constitution, and concluded to loud applause, "And, by the way, if we're going stand for the Constitution and the rule of law, we can all start now by saying it's time to impeach Dick Cheney."

The following video is from CNN's Live Video, broadcast on July 12.

See link...

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"Behind every great fortune lies a great crime."Honore de Balzac

"Democrats work to help people who need help. That other party, they work for people who don't need help. That's all there is to it."~Harry S. Truman

This man has all the right stances on how our country should work for the people, not only the elites. But America is too shallow to want someone like this, even the Dems are too shallow to want someone like this.

Yes, I know, if he were the candidate he would be shredded. And Dems just want back into BIG POWER. Doesn't seem to matter much how they get there.

But I wish other candidates would pick up some of Kucinich's integrity...

I'm glad Sen. Clinton has hit back, but she's probably only now feeling the real heat on this vital issue because of her vote in support of the war back in 2003. It's unfortunate that all of those in Congress who supported the war back then couldn't get past their emotions and insist there be a withdrawal plan from the very beginning. THAT and making sure the president wasn't lying...which of course, he was.

Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton hit back Friday in a row with the Pentagon, after a top official accused her of emboldening US enemies by discussing troop withdrawals.

Senator Clinton wrote to Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, accusing one of his civilian subordinates of making "spurious" comments and saying the official's priorities were backwards on planning for troop redeployments.

Under Secretary of Defense Eric Edelman had rebuked Clinton in unusually strong terms in a letter about her questions on how and if the US military was preparing contingency plans for an eventual withdrawal from Iraq.

"Premature and public discussion of the withdrawal of US forces from Iraq reinforces enemy propaganda that the United States will abandon its allies in Iraq," Edelman wrote, adding such talk "unnerves" US allies there.

Clinton told Gates that Edelman's response avoided the issues she had raised "and instead made spurious arguments to avoid addressing contingency planning for the withdrawal of US forces from Iraq."

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"Behind every great fortune lies a great crime."Honore de Balzac

"Democrats work to help people who need help. That other party, they work for people who don't need help. That's all there is to it."~Harry S. Truman

Democratic White House hopeful John Edwards, who has made a strong push for union support on the campaign trail, picked up two major endorsements Monday, making him the leading candidate for labor endorsements in the presidential field.

The United Steelworkers and United Mine Workers of America announced their support of Edwards at a Labor Day rally in downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

In a statement, Steelworkers President Leo Gerard said, "All of the Democratic candidates in the field share our values, and any one of them would be a major improvement over the current administration. But none of them is a more forceful advocate for those values than John Edwards. Sen. Edwards is committed, as he has been throughout his life, to going to bat for everyday Americans and to changing a broken political system that leaves millions of Americans without a voice in their government."

Edwards told the boisterous rally, "America was not built on Wall Street. America was built by steelworkers and mine workers."

The Steelworkers called Edwards the most electable Democrat in the general election.

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"Behind every great fortune lies a great crime."Honore de Balzac

"Democrats work to help people who need help. That other party, they work for people who don't need help. That's all there is to it."~Harry S. Truman

This CNN video doesn't show a presidential contender, but it does show a little bit about Rep. Heath Shuler, (D-NC) who defeated one of the twenty most corrupt members of Congress, Charles Taylor, in 2006.

Shuler is running again in 2008. Will I vote for him then? Probably, even though I'm disappointed that he's not taken a stronger stand against the war and George Bush. Still, I realize a newbie on Capital Hill has to learn the ropes and see and be seen for awhile. Shuler will be more effective if he's given another term.

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"Behind every great fortune lies a great crime."Honore de Balzac

"Democrats work to help people who need help. That other party, they work for people who don't need help. That's all there is to it."~Harry S. Truman